Farah Saleh

Last updated
Farah Saleh
Born1985 (age 37–38)
Al Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria
NationalityPalestinian
Occupation(s)Dancer and Choreographer
AwardsYoung Artist of the Year Award (YAYA): 3rd Prize for A Fidayee in Moscow, 2014 Dance prize at Palest'In and Out Festival in Paris for La Même, 2016

Farah Saleh is a Palestinian dancer and choreographer currently based in Scotland, and in 2017 was appointed as Associate Artist at Dance Base, Edinburgh. [1] She has worked in various countries (including Belgium, Denmark, Lebanon and Norway), as well as on projects with Sareyyet Ramallah Dance Company (Palestine) since 2010. [2]

Contents

Life

Saleh was born in the Al Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria and started ballet dancing at the age of seven. [3] At the age of eleven she moved to Ramallah with her family but there was no dance school. [4] She tried traditional Arab dance but found it difficult to relate to the staged form of it. She restarted ballet at the age of fourteen and then started contemporary dance with Nicholas Rowe [5] when she was sixteen. [6] In an interview for the book Borders in the Levant. Contemporary Dance and the Internet she argued that self-taught dancers and choreographers are more creative and interesting. [7]

She attended university in Italy and studied Linguistic and Cultural Mediation and Literary Translation as well as continuing her contemporary dance education. [8] Since then she has been involved with various dance groups and projects. [1]

Work

Saleh thinks that her body is an archive. [6] Her work covers many aspects of life and she often tries to engage the audience into action on issues such as protest and dissent, activism on both her part and that of the audience, openness, and the status of women. She believes that art can push forward collective transformations. Some of her work deals directly with the status of Palestinians in the West Bank. [6]

Many of her projects include video installations. A Fidayee Son in Moscow (2015) was originally a video installation, but later adapted to be a live performance. Cells of Illegal Education (2016) was an interactive video installation. [9]  It focused on the gestures of civil disobedience during the First Intifada and re-enacts the gestures of students in Birzeit University as they protested. [10] La Même (2016) looked at the representation and the reality of women wearing the hijab or burka in the western and Arab worlds. The piece has two women (one veiled and one unveiled), and she hoped to represent the fact that both had similar fears, hopes and dreams and that the performance proposed solutions to their problems. [11]

Awards

She won the third prize of the Young Artist of the Year Award (YAYA) in 2014 for her installation A Fidayee Sonin Moscow. [12]

At the Palest’In and Out Festival in Paris in 2016 she won the dance prize for the duet La Même. [12]

Selected work

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wafa Idris</span> Palestinian suicide bomber

Wafa Idris was the first female suicide bomber in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. At the time of her death, Idris was a 28-year-old, divorced Red Crescent Volunteer. She lived in the Am'ari Refugee Camp in Ramallah.

<i>Dabke</i> Levantine folk dance

Dabke is a Levantine Arab folk dance, popular in Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Dabke combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions. The line forms from right to left and leader of the dabke heads the line, alternating between facing the audience and the other dancers. In English, it can be transcribed as dabka, dabki, dabkeh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nahlah Ayed</span> Canadian journalist

Nahlah Ayed is a Canadian journalist, who is currently the host of the academic documentary program Ideas on CBC Radio One and a reporter with CBC News. She was previously a foreign correspondent with the network and has also worked as a parliamentary correspondent under The Canadian Press. Her reporting on contemporary Middle Eastern politics has garnered multiple awards, both domestic and international.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Bakri</span> Palestinian Arab Israeli actor and film director (born 1953)

Mohammad Bakri is a Palestinian actor and film director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestinian art</span>

Palestinian art is a term used to refer to paintings, posters, installation art and other visual media produced by Palestinian artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sama Alshaibi</span>

Sama Raena Alshaibi also known as Sama Alshaibi is a conceptual artist, who deals with spaces of conflict as her primary subject. War, exile, power and the quest for survival are themes seen in her works. She often uses her own body in her artwork as a representation of the country or an issue she is dealing with.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Jacir</span> Palestinian artist and filmmaker (born 1972)

Emily Jacir is a Palestinian artist and filmmaker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annemarie Jacir</span> Palestinian filmmaker and poet

Annemarie Jacir is a Palestinian filmmaker, writer, and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nabi Salih</span> Local Development Committee in Ramallah and al-Bireh, State of Palestine

Nabi Salih is a small Palestinian village in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located 20 kilometers northwest of Ramallah. It has a population (2016) of 600. It is noted for the weekly marches to protest the occupation undertaken since 2010, a practice suspended in 2016, after 350 villagers were estimated to have suffered injuries in clashes with Israeli troops over that period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mira Awad</span> Musical artist

Mīrā Anwar ‘Awaḍ is an Arab-Israeli singer-songwriter, actress, television host, and political activist of Palestinian Arab and Bulgarian descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khaled Juma</span> Palestinian poet and author

Khaled Juma is a writer from Palestine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestine–United Arab Emirates relations</span> Bilateral relations

Palestinian Territories - United Arab Emirates relations are the economic and political relations between the United Arab Emirates and The Palestinian Territories. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a Liaison Office in Ramallah while Palestine maintains an embassy in Abu Dhabi. Both countries form part of the Middle East region and share strong cultural ties. Like other Muslim countries, the UAE supports the independence of Palestine. Many Palestinians travel, work, and reside in the UAE. In recent years however, there has been a relapse in relations.

The Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS) is an independent Palestinian non-profit and non-governmental organization that advocates human rights, democracy and tolerance from a secular perspective. It conducts theoretical and applied research, publishes studies and journals, operates educational programs and workshops and undertakes advocacy work. Its headquarters are in Ramallah and it has an office in Gaza.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Muaddi Darraj</span> American writer

Susan Muaddi Darraj is a Palestinian American writer. Born in Philadelphia to Palestinian immigrant parents, she attended Rutgers University - Camden, NJ, where she earned a master's degree in English Literature. She has authored several collections of fiction, young adult and children's books, as well as academic and personal essays and articles. Muaddi Darraj is a tenured professor of English Literature at Harford Community College as well as a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at The Johns Hopkins University. She lives in Baltimore, MD.

Experimental theatre in the Arab world emerged in the post-colonial era as a fusion of Western theatrical traditions with local performance cultures such as music and dance. It is characterized by hybridity as it transposes Arabic traditional performances that were usually seen in public squares and marketplaces to theatre buildings. Experimental theatre in the Arab world has historically taken forms of Forum theatre by using audience participation as a way to smooth conflicts and resolve social tension. The audience is then transformed from a commonly passive into a proactive and involved one. It has been seen as a form of theatre of resistance and cultural activism as it deals with contemporary sensitive issues of the region such as the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the Arab Spring, the role of women in Arabic society and religion. Such issues are often dealt with using humour. Throughout the years, experimental theatre in the Arab world has gradually converted into a synonymous of non-mainstream and underground art movements in which artists are always evolving and breaking down conventional markers between actors and spectators. The script combines the appropriation and dis-appropriation of Western models and is usually organic, more improvisational and self-reflexive. In the late 2000s, improvisational theatre which takes forms of stand up comedy shows has also emerged around the Arab world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanan Ashrawi</span> Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar (born 1946)

Hanan Daoud Mikhael Ashrawi is a Palestinian politician, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson of the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace process, beginning with the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991. In 1996, Ashrawi was appointed as the Palestinian Authority Minister of Higher Education and Research. Prior to that, she was dean of the Faculty of Arts at Birzeit University and head of its Legal Aid Committee since the mid-1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dina Shihabi</span> Saudi Arabian actress (born 1989)

Dina Shihabi is a Saudi Arabian actress working in the United States.

Events of 2019 in the State of Palestine.

Maya Abu Al-Hayat (1980) is a Palestinian novelist, poet, storyteller, and translator, born in Beirut. She has published three novels and three collections of poetry. Her books have gained worldwide recognition, and some of her stories have been translated into different languages. Abu Al-Hayat also worked as an actress and ran the Palestine Writing Workshop. Abu Al-Hayat played a prominent role in children's literature, writing and presenting television programs for children, including "Iftah Ya Simsim," and was distinguished by her writing of children's stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germany–Palestine relations</span> Bilateral relations

Germany–Palestine are relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Palestine. Germany does not recognize Palestine diplomatically. However, Germany has a Representation Office in Ramallah, while there is also a Palestinian Mission in Berlin. There are numerous contacts between both societies, and Germany provides economic support to the Palestinian Territories through development partnerships. Germany is diplomatically committed to a two-state solution and has acted as a mediator in the Arab–Israeli conflict in the past.

References

  1. 1 2 "Farah Saleh — The Work Room". theworkroom.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  2. ↑ Warmington, Louise. "Farah Saleh". The Fruitmarket Gallery. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  3. ↑ "Residency 7 - 18 May".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ↑ "Farah Saleh". More Than This. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  5. ↑ "Professor Nicholas Rowe - The University of Auckland". www.creative.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Speculations for Collective Transformations". Ibraaz. Retrieved 2021-01-30.
  7. ↑ Brayshaw, Teresa; Fenemore, Anna; Witts, Noel (2019-07-23). The Twenty-First Century Performance Reader. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-000-01188-3.
  8. ↑ "Farah Saleh | Artward" (in German). Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  9. ↑ "AFAC". www.arabculturefund.org. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  10. ↑ AlSerkal. "Cells of Illegal Education". alserkalavenue.ae. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  11. 1 2 Burt, Ramsay. "Contemporary Arab Dance". ramsayburt. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  12. 1 2 "Farah Saleh | Center for Middle East Studies". watson.brown.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  13. ↑ "Dance Archives". The Fruitmarket Gallery. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  14. ↑ "Farah Saleh • Parallèle". www.plateformeparallele.com. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  15. ↑ "Brexit Means Brexit!". Take Me Somewhere. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  16. ↑ "Gesturing Refugees -" . Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  17. ↑ "In Motion — The Work Room". theworkroom.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  18. ↑ ""Free Advice" Solo Performance – Farah Saleh | Palestinian Studies". palestinianstudies.org. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.